Gaylord businesses bridge slow time with high hopes

SPRING THAW:

GAYLORD - For those who remain in town, this is one time of year they can turn left unchallenged at almost any intersection. For businesses it's another matter.

From mid-March to mid-April, foot traffic downtown drops off dramatically, a reflection of the general level of traffic found in Otsego County between winter and spring, skiing and golf.

"Right now were in 'double ick,'" said Karin Beyer, with Saturn Booksellers. "The sun is nice but I wish we had less snow."

"Whenever the sun's shining the people come out of the woodwork," said Adam Ptasnik, owner of Brothers Coffee & Tea and the Gildner Galley.

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As of Monday, the National Weather Service office in Gaylord measured 16 inches of snow on the ground. Like the warming temperatures, slower business is a seasonal event most business owners are aware of. The Sugar Bowl, open since 1918, will close for three weeks effective March 29.

"It's a spring cleaning kind of thing," said Sugar Bowl manager Tony Kaly. "We'll do whatever repairs we need to get ready for the spring and summer. Everybody and his brother is out of town."

"A lot of northern Michigan people have left town for a month because of the crappy weather," confirmed Gene Sanders, owner of Hogan's Jewelers. "It gets worse after the 15th (of March) because people go on spring break. We've had an excellent month but if you look at March, out of our 12 months, it's the slowest."

Gaylord's winter did not start well for business looking for significant snow cover for the week after Christmas when downstaters typically swarm north for winter break. Absent that patronage - the snow didn't start to accumulate until a 9-inch snowfall on Jan. 7 - Gaylord/Otsego County Chamber of Commerce Director Bob Kasprzak said many local business were able to make up the difference thanks to record January snowfall and the addition of three unscheduled snocross events to the activity calendar.

"I think the accommodations industry has been fairly satisfied," he offered.

Businesses that remain open during the slow period have found their niches to fill.

"For me it's busy with Easter," said Bruce Brown, owner of the Alpine Chocolat Haus, in the process of remodeling second-story office space into a 1,700-square-foot kitchen. With part-time help, Brown actually expects his payroll to increase to 23 people.

"This is the time of year that people get their tax returns back so this is almost as busy as Christmas," said Gabe Bober, owner of Hobby & Toy Inc.

For some, it's not the visitors but the locals who will make or break their business.

"A lot of the people that come in here are locals. We've got business all the time," said John Anderson, working behind the counter at Harmony Grounds. "This place I haven't noticed very many slow days."

"With the snocross coming up this weekend at the Otsego Club, hopefully that will get some more people in town to spend some time," said Sherrie Schuster, director of the Gaylord Downtown Development Authority, likewise confident that downtown stores also will weather the opening of the Edelweiss Village Shopping Center.

"People will come downtown," she said. "We built it and they will come."